by J. D. Robb
“Spends a lot,” Eve commented. “Clothes, salons, jewelry, art, travel. Lots of travel. And isn’t it interesting that she’s been to Jamaica four times in the last eighteen months.”
“Yes, it’s very interesting.”
“Could be she was cheating on the cheating husband with the cheating husband’s feckless brother.”
“Keep it in the family.”
“Or maybe she did the recruiting, looking for a fall guy should the situation call for one.”
He speared an artichoke heart. “It’s Reva who’s taking the fall.”
“Yeah. Just let me play with it.” She picked up her wine again, sipping at it as she rose to pace. “First trip a year and a half ago. Feels him out, maybe. Could use him to double-team Reva or Blair. Or both. She likes money. She likes risks. You don’t sleep with your friend’s husband if you don’t like risk, or if you have a conscience. Playing with global techno-terrorists might appeal to her. She likes travel, and with all the people she meets—through traveling, through her social position, through the art world . . . yeah, she could’ve been approached.”
“So, how did she end up dead?”
“I’m getting there. Maybe little brother was jealous. That’s a time-honored motive for hacking your lover to bits.”
“Or learning how to rumba.”
“Har-har. Maybe he wanted a bigger cut, or maybe she double-crossed him. And maybe this is all bullshit, but it’s something to explore.”
She gestured with the glass toward the wall screen. “I’ll tell you something else I think. They’re just too damn clean.”
“Ah. I was hoping you’d feel that way.” He leaned back in the chair with his wine. “Just so very smooth aren’t they, our Mr. Bissel and Ms. Kade. Just so completely what one would expect. Educated, law-abiding, financially cozy. Not the least little smudge. It all fits so exactly—”
“That it doesn’t fit at all. They’re liars and cheats, and liars and cheats generally have a smudge or two.”
He sipped, smiling at her over the rich red in a crystal glass. “Enough skill, enough money, all matter of smudges can be erased.”
“You’d know. We’re going to take this deeper, because I’m just not buying. Meanwhile, I want to see Reva.”
“Screen three.”
The data flashed on, and the ’link from Roarke’s adjoining office beeped.
“I need to take that.”
She nodded absently, and read as he went into his own office.
Ewing, Reva. Caucasian. Hair: brown. Eyes: gray. Height: five feet, four inches. Weight: one hundred and eighteen pounds. DOB: May 15, 2027. Parents: Bryce Gruber and Caroline Ewing, divorced 2040. Resides: 21981 Serenity Lane, Queens, New York. Occupation: electronic security expert. Employed: Securecomp, Roarke Industries. Married: October 12, 2057, Blair Bissel. No children registered.
Education: Kennedy Primary, New York. Lincoln High School—fast track—New York. Georgetown University, East Washington, with degrees in computer science, electronic criminology, and law.
Joined Secret Service, January 2051. Assigned to President Anne B. Foster, 2053–55. Complete service record in attached file, including sealed records, opened by authorization of Ewing, Reva.
Good as her word, then, Eve decided, and opted to read the service record later.
Resigned from Secret Service, January 2056. Relocated to New York City. Employed Securecomp, Roarke Industries, January 2056 to present.
No criminal record. Misdemeanor truancy charge, misdemeanor underage alcohol consumption charge, both expunged from juvenile record in compliance with court order. Community service completed.
The medical included a broken index finger at age eight, a hairline fracture of the left ankle at age twelve, broken collarbone, thirteen. Doctor’s and social worker’s reports ascertained that the injuries, and the numerous subsequent injuries, were the result of various sports and recreational activities that included ice hockey, softball, martial arts training, parasailing, basketball, and skiing.
But the most serious injury had come as an adult, and on the job. Reva had done what every SS agent vows to do. She’d taken a hit for the President.
A full-body blast that had lain her up for three months, and had required treatment in one of the top clinics in the world. She’d been paralyzed from the waist down for six weeks.
Remembering how hideous it had been when McNab had taken a similar hit earlier that summer, and how slim his chances had been if the nerves hadn’t regenerated on their own, she had a good idea of the pain, the fear, and the work Reva had gone through to recover.
She remembered the assassination attempt as well. The suicidal fanatic who’d charged at the President, and had taken out three civilians and two agents before he’d been stopped. She now recalled seeing Reva’s image on the media. But she’d looked very different then.
Longer hair, Eve recalled. Dark blonde, with a fuller, softer face.
Eve glanced over her shoulder as Roarke came back. “I remember her now. Remember hearing about her when she took that hit. Lots of buzz. She took the guy out, didn’t she? Took him down while she used herself to shield Foster.”
“They didn’t think she’d live. Then they didn’t think she’d walk again. She proved them wrong.”
“You didn’t hear much about her after the first few days.”
“That’s the way she wanted it.” He glanced over at the image of Reva, still on screen. “She didn’t like the attention. She’ll get it again now. They’ll make the connection quickly, and the buzz will start again. Heroic woman charged in double murder and so on.”
“She’ll deal.”
“She will, yes. She’ll bury herself in work, like someone else I know.”
“How far will this set back the project?”
“Half a day. That was Tokimoto. Reva’s already briefed him, though she plans to be back at it herself as soon as she’s done with Truth Testing. If two people are dead for the purposes of scrapping this project, it was severely misdirected.”
“You’d think anybody smart enough to pull this off would be smart enough to know that. Desperation move?” she speculated. “Trouble in the rank and file? Carter Bissel. I really want to talk to Carter Bissel.”
“Are we going to Jamaica?”
“Don’t grab your beach towel yet. I’ll start by chatting up the local authorities. I’ve got to write my report, shoot a copy to Whitney. And I’ve got to follow through with the standard investigative routine. Check with the ME, the lab, the sweepers, EDD. Media’s going to start jumping by morning. You’re probably going to want to formulate an official statement as her employer.”
“I’m already working on that.”
“I want her under wraps, Roarke. No statements from her, so if she goes back to work, I need her tucked up tight.”
“I can promise you, she knows how to stonewall the media.”
“Just make sure of it. If you don’t have something else going, you could start digging deeper on Bissel and Kade.”
“I’ve cleared the table for this.” He picked up his wineglass again. “I’ll get my shovel.”
“You’re okay, you know.” She stepped to him, gave him a light bite on the bottom lip. “For a slick-talking, sticky-fingered civilian.”
“You’re okay yourself. For a mean-tempered, single-minded cop.”
“Aren’t we the pair? Give a yell if you find something interesting.”
She sat at her desk to sort through her notes, the statements, preliminary findings. Then began to write up a report for her files, and her commander’s.
Halfway through, she pulled out the crime scene stills and studied them yet again. Had they been conscious when the stabbing started?
Unlikely, she thought, given the time frame. Whoever killed them had wanted them dead and hadn’t cared about causing pain. That left out rage, in her opinion. It had been too cold-blooded, too premeditated for rage.
It was meant to look lik
e rage.
Front door was open. She frowned as she rechecked her notes. Caro’s statement asserted the front door was open when she arrived. Yet in Reva’s, she stated she’d reset the locks and the security. And Eve was inclined to believe she had. It would be habit, routine, training, the sort of thing she’d do automatically even when in a temper.
Whoever had killed them, and incapacitated Reva, had gone back out the front door, leaving the locks open. Why not? What would it matter?
In fact . . .
She got up, went to the doorway. “Fancy security system like Kade’s. . . ,” she began, “ . . . if it’s shut down, and an egress is left open, how long before the company’d do a routine check of the premises?”
“That would depend on the client’s request. It’s individualized.” He glanced up from his own work. “You’re wanting me to check.”
“You could get the answer faster, seeing as you own the world.”
“I only own specific parts of the world. Open Securecomp,” he ordered his computer. “Authorization Roarke.”
Working . . . Securecomp open on Authorization Roarke.
“Access client file for Kade, Felicity, residential account, NYC.”
Working . . . Kade, Felicity, accessed. Do you want the data on screen or on audio?
“On screen. Detail client’s profile for house security.”
Profile displayed.
“Let’s see, then . . . sixty minutes on the street-level doors and windows. The instructions are to monitor for motion, and to relay any questions to her house droid after a sixty-minute period.”
“Is that standard?”
“It’s rather long, actually. I’d have to assume she trusted the system, and didn’t care to be disturbed should there be a glitch.”
“Sixty minutes. Okay. Okay, thanks.” She wandered back, running it around her head.
Had they figured Reva would be out at least an hour, or if not out, disoriented? Security company activates house droid, house droid reports security has been compromised, and the company automatically reports same to the police and sends over a team.
But Reva’s a tough customer. She surfaces quicker, and even though she’s sick, scared, confused, she makes a call. So that part of the plan—if it was part of the plan—didn’t work, because Caro, rushing the few blocks with a coat thrown over her pajamas, closed the door before the sixty was up.
She added the detail to her report.
What was left on scene?
The kitchen knife from the Bissel-Ewing house. How long had it been missing? Unlikely they’d be able to determine.
Military-issue stunner. Used by military personnel, Special Forces, certain city crisis-response teams. Who else?
“Computer, what weaponry is issued to United States Secret Service agents, specifically those on presidential detail.
Working . . . all agents are issued an M3 stunner and a neuron blaster, both handheld models. Agents may choose between a 4000 blaster and a 5200, as suits their personal preference.
“An M3,” Eve murmured. “I was under the impression SS agents carried A-1s.”
Prior to December 5, 2055, A-1 stunners were standard issue for Secret Service. The change to the more powerful M3 went into effect at this time. The attempt on the life of then President Anne B. Foster, on August 8, 2055, the loss of two agents and civilian casualties during this assassination attempt resulted in the upgrade of weaponry.
“Is that so?”
This is accurate data.
“Right.” Eve tipped back in her chair. Whoever had used and planted the M3 had assumed Reva had one. She hadn’t left the SS until January. But she’d never gone back to active duty either. It was a simple matter to check to see if she’d ever been issued that style weapon.
Another detail for her report. When she’d compiled everything she wanted, she dumped it all into a file, saved it.
“Computer, analyze all data in case file HE-45209-2. Using known data, run a probability scan on Ewing, Reva, as perpetrator.”
Working . . .
“Take your time,” Eve murmured and rose to get more coffee.
She wandered back to her desk. Sat, sipped, played idly with the stuffed cat Roarke had given her since Galahad appeared to be spending the evening with Summerset.
Which just went to show, she thought, the cat’s lousy judge of character.
Probability scan complete. Probability that Ewing, Reva, is perpetrator in the murders of Bissel, Blair, and Kade, Felicity, is seventy-seven point six percent.
“That’s interesting. That’s pretty interesting for something that, on the surface, looked like a walk. She passes Level Three tomorrow, that’s going to drop another twenty points, easy. Then her lawyers are going to kick my ass.”
“You don’t sound overly concerned about that.”
She turned her head to look at Roarke, lounging against the doorjamb between their offices. “I can take my licks.”
“I’ll owe you for it. Yes, yes,” he said, reading her face. “Doing your job, and so on and so forth. But you’ll be taking some of those licks to help a friend of mine. So I’ll owe you for it. The media loves to slap down anyone who’s at the top of their game, as you are.”
“And gee . . .”—she held up the stuffed cat as if speaking to it—“ . . . the media worries me almost as much as a bunch of pussy lawyers.”
“I beg your pardon, but my lawyers are not pussies.”
Eve set the stuffed cat aside and gave Roarke a steely stare. “I figured she’d lawyered up with some of your suits. If they’re worth half of what you pay them, they’ll have the charges dropped within another twenty-four. It’d be better if they didn’t.”
“Why is that?”
“As long as whoever’s running this show thinks she’s in the squeeze, she’s safe and he won’t be as likely to blow. If he’s not already in the wind, and Reva shakes this loose, he’ll blow. Or they will.”
“They.”
“There’s got to be a team working on this. Someone for the murder, someone for the setup, someone for the hit on the security and data units at the gallery and studio. And somebody, I betcha, pushing all the buttons.”
“It’s so nice when we agree. I need to move this to the unregistered.”
“Why?”
“Come with me, and I’ll show you.”
“I’m working here.”
“You’ll want to see this, Lieutenant.”
“Better be good.”
The equipment unregistered with, and undetectable by, CompuGuard was in a secured room.
The wide wall of windows was screened against prying eyes, but let in the view of New York, with all its spires and spears rising into the night sky.
The black, U-shaped console was slick, and studded with dozens of controls. It reminded Eve, always, of some sort of futuristic spacecraft. So much so, she wouldn’t have batted an eye if the entire thing had floated up from the floor, then zoomed off, to wink away in some time warp.
He got a brandy from the fully stocked bar behind a wall panel, and because he intended for her to sleep shortly, poured her another glass of wine.
“I’m on coffee now.”
“Then it won’t hurt you to dilute some of the caffeine. And look what else I have.” He held up a candy bar.
Greed shot into her eyes before she could disguise it. “You have candy in here? I’ve never seen candy in here.”
“I’m just full of surprises.” Watching her, he waved the wrapped bar from side to side. “You can have the candy if you sit on my lap.”
“That sounds like something perverted old men say to young, stupid girls.”
“I’m not old, and you’re not stupid.” He sat, patted his knee. “It’s Belgian chocolate.”
“Just because I’m sitting on your lap and eating your candy doesn’t mean you can cop a feel,” she said as she folded into his lap.
“I’ll just have to live in hope that you’ll change your mind.
Which you may when you see what I’ve found for you.”
“Put up, or shut up.”
“That’s my line.” He nipped her ear, passed her the candy bar, then inserted a disc. Reaching over, he laid a palm on the console. “Roarke. Open operations.”
It hummed, more like a powerful animal waking than a machine booting up. Lights flashed on.
“Upload data.”
“If you’ve got data on the disc . . .” She swallowed a bite of candy. “ . . . Why do you need the unregistered? You’re already on record.”
“It’s not what I have, but what I intend to do with it. Digging around, I ran into a couple of blocks. Nothing unusual initially. Standard privacy blocks, all very usual and law-abiding. But when I nudged them a bit, I got this. Computer, display last task from disc on screen one.”
Screen one on. Display up.
Eve frowned at the snowy-white screen and blurred black letters.
RESTRICTED DATA
ACCESS DENIED
“That’s it? Access denied? You run into a wall and I have to come in here and sit on your lap?”
“No, you’re sitting on my lap because you wanted my candy.”
Rather than admit that was true, she took another bite of chocolate. “Why’s the display fuzzy?”
“Because, fortunately, I engaged filters before digging around. If I hadn’t, I’d have set off an alarm, and my little excavation would have sent up all manner of flags. So, we do it in here. Computer, redo last task.”
Acknowledged.
The screen flashed off, then on again, clear.
Task complete.
“So?”
“You have no faith whatsoever. Just for that, sit over there and be quiet.”
She shrugged, moved off his lap, and onto a chair. She finished off her candy bar, sipped lazily at her wine.
It wasn’t exactly a hardship to watch him work. She liked the way he rolled his sleeves up to the elbow, tied his hair back—like a man preparing to do some serious physical labor.
He used both manual and verbal commands, so she could watch his quick fingers fly over keys, hear his voice—more Irish as he concentrated—flow out.
“Access denied? I’ll show you access denied, bloody wanker.”
Smiling a little, she closed her eyes, telling herself she was just going to rest them while she walked mentally through the investigation to date.